ANCESTORS AND ALIENS - by Dot

(We found this sign at the UFO Museum interesting but did not see any UFOs parked there!)

Yesterday we traveled the 185 miles to Roswell to see if we could locate any descendants of my great Uncle Bruce, my maternal grandmother’s brother. As a small child I remember being with Uncle Bruce on a couple of occasions when he came back to Virginia for visits. He was a very exciting relative in my young mind because he wore cowboy boots and hat and lived in the exotic land of New Mexico! It came as something of a shock to me to learn that he was a dentist!!

I also recalled that my grandmother had made a trip to Roswell to visit her brother. It was a big adventure for her and I still have a couple of souvenirs that she brought back for family members at the time. We were able to locate the house where he lived when that visit took place.

Unfortunately I was not able to locate any descendants of his but I did accumulate additional information about him, visited his grave, and was able to locate the building where his dental office was as well as his residence. Uncle Bruce came to Roswell around 1919 and remained there until his death in 1951. I don't know what the circumstances were that led him so far away from Virginia. One of his sons joined his dental practice and apparently lived most of his life in Roswell as well. The son's widow still lived there until 2002 when she, too, passed away. Another son, who was an artist, must have moved back east because I remember seeing him at extended family gatherings occasionally. Several relatives, including my grandmother, had his paintings hanging in their homes. I found two photos of him in old high school yearbooks as well as one of his younger sister whom I never met to my knowledge.

I feel sure that there are older residents of Roswell who probably knew Uncle Bruce or his son but I did not know how I might find them. Perhaps continued research will lead me to some of his descendants wherever they are.

Since we were already in Roswell we took time to visit the UFO Museum dedicated to perpetuating the local interpretation of events that occurred on a nearby farm in July 1947. The exhibit contains the “Roswell Incident” Timeline, a day-to-day accounting of the events with newspaper accounts and original photographs and witness statements. Another section is devoted to what they call “the Great Cover-Up” by the military and the U.S. government. I found the museum mildly interesting. I think you have to be really into” aliens, UFOs, etc. to thoroughly enjoy it. They had a good self-guided tour taped narration that I liked because it eliminated the need to read so much. However, I could have done without the gift shop with all the little green men items!

Another bonus to the trip was an opportunity to have a meal with the former pastor at Dan’s home church who was transferred to Roswell in 2008.

It was good to return to Las Cruces and the mountain scenery. I find more beauty here and we have much better Mexican restaurants here as well! Roswell’s landscape is more like parts of Texas. Undoubtedly it makes for good cattle ranching, though.

In all, I think that I enjoyed the ancestor part of our trip more than the alien part even though we did not encounter either in person!